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Thursday, 27 July 2017

Power to sign constitutional amendments deprived from the President by Senate

On Wednesday, 26 July 2017, The Senate passed 29 out of the 33 items slated for amendment in the 1999 Constitution.
The lawmakers unanimously voted to strip the President of powers to
assent to amendments made to the constitution, thereby giving the
legislature sweeping powers to alter the constitution.

They voted 92 against four to pass the amendment seeking to whittle
down the power of the President to veto the amendments to the
constitution.

The lawmakers also unanimously passed the amendment seeking to
include past Presidents of the Senate and former House of
Representatives Speakers as members of Council of State.

Also on the card was immunity to lawmakers in the federal and state
legislatures against prosecution over words spoken or written in the
parliament during debates or at committee assignments.

They also passed an amendment that would compel the President to
attend a joint session of the National Assembly once a year to deliver a
State of the Nation address.

Similarly, the length of time given to the President to spend funds
from the consolidated revenue in the absence of appropriation has been
reduced from six to three months.

Henceforth, the President must lay the nation’s annual budgetary
proposal before the National Assembly within 90 days before the end of a
fiscal year, while state governors are also to lay theirs within the
same time frame at the state assemblies.

Local governments have also been freed from the grip of state
governments, with the scrapping of the existing Joint State/Local
Government Accounts.

The local governments are to get their allocations directly from the federation account and other sources.

State assemblies are also to get financial autonomy. They are also to
enjoy a right to funding from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the
states. The amendment had been rejected by state assemblies during
previous constitution amendment.

Also, the amendment prescribed that appointees of the President and
State Governors for cabinet offices are now to be submitted to the
Federal and State parliaments within 30 days of taking oath of office by
the President or state governors.

Portfolios to be assigned to each appointee will also be indicated in
the nomination letters forwarded to the Senate or the state assemblies
as the case may be.

The Senate also approved a provision for independent candidates at
all levels of election, as a way of expanding the political space beyond
conventional parties.

The lawmakers also voted in favour of separation of the office of the
Accountant General of the Federal Government from the office of the
Accountant General of the Federation.

Similarly, the office of the Auditor-General for the Federation and
state Auditors General are to be on first line charges in the
consolidated revenue funds of the federation and the states
respectively.

Also, the Senate voted in favour of separating the office of the
Minister of Justice and state commissioners for Justice from that of the
Attorney-General of the Federation and that of the State.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has also been
empowered to delist non-performing registered political parties.

The amendment also affects any political party that failed to win any seat at the federal, state or local government level.